Predicting military specific performance from common fitness tests

Purpose: Good health status and adequate physical performance are required for serving as conscripts. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to assess the impact of common fitness tests on military specific skills. Methods: 24 conscripts (N=24, age 19.4 ± 0.9 years, height 179.0 ± 5.1, weight 80.6 ± 16.8) of an infantry platoon completed a medical check, anthropometric assessment and isometric power tests of upper and lower extremities within a pre selection phase 10 to 16 months before military mandatory. During military mandatory a motoric test battery, a military specific test (MST), a 2400m run and a military march were conducted. Results: All strength parameters except leg press (LP) correlated significantly with the MST and military march (p>0.005). Isometric strength tests showed the lowest relationship to MST. The strongest predictors for MST (R2= 0.58) were seated bench pull (sbPull, p=0.007) and push up (p = 0.038). Push up (p